In the Lok Sabha, the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill 2023 was presented.
What exactly is aquaculture?
- Aquaculture is the breeding, rearing, and harvesting of fish, shellfish, and aquatic vegetation.
- In a word, it’s water farming.
- The saline water along the coast has been discovered to be suitable for aquaculture, which primarily provides prawns.
- If aquaculture is not performed on this land, it will be idle and uncultivated because it is unsuitable for crop cultivation.
- Aquaculture can be practised on approximately 12 lakh hectares along the country’s shore, of which only 14% has been utilised thus far.
The amendment’s main points
- Certain crimes will be decriminalised under the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act, according to the Bill.
- Fine-tuning operational procedures: It aims to promote ease of doing business and to fine-tune the authority’s operational procedures.
- Promotion of newer types of environmentally friendly coastal aquaculture, such as cage culture, seaweed culture, marine ornamental fish culture, and pearl oyster culture, is also a goal of the Bill.
- Increase employment opportunities: These newer types of coastal aquaculture have the ability to increase employment.
- Hazardous substance avoidance in littoral aquaculture: A clause in the Bill also prohibits the use of antibiotics and pharmacologically active chemicals that are harmful to human health in coastal aquaculture.
Concerning the Coastal Aquaculture Act
- This Act was passed in 2005 to create an authority to regulate activities in this sector.
- It is a parliamentary order that creates the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA) in India to regulate and register coastal aquaculture farms.
Overview
- The Central Government is required by the CAA Act of 2005 to take steps to regulate coastal aquaculture and ensure that it does not harm the coastal environment.
- The government’s guidelines are intended to promote responsible coastal aquaculture practises that safeguard the livelihoods of various coastal communities.
Key features
- The Coastal Aquaculture Authority is established under the CAA Act of 2005 to regulate coastal aquaculture operations.
- The Central Government is in charge of developing guidelines to govern coastal aquaculture activities and guarantee responsible practises.
- The guidelines seek to safeguard coastal communities’ livelihoods and to prevent harm to the coastal environment.
- The Act also requires coastal aquaculture farms to be registered in order to comply with the standards.
- In India, the CAA is a powerful agency in enforcing regulations and registering coastal aquaculture farms.
Significance
- The Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act of 2005 is important in promoting responsible coastal aquaculture practises and preserving coastal communities’ livelihoods.
- The act regulates and registers coastal aquaculture operations, which serves to protect the coastal environment.
Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/govt-introduces-aquaculture-bill-amid-din-in-lok-sabha/article66703204.ece#:~:text=The%20Coastal%20Aquaculture%20Authority%20(Amendment,promoting%20ease%20of%20doing%20business